Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Axis Bank ATM Hacked

In what comes as a shocker to several Mumbaikars who quite routinely withdraw cash from the Axis Bank ATMs dotted across the city, it is being learnt that the security of the ATM systems of the bank have been compromised. According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, the first set of complaints has been coming from Oshiwara, located in suburban Mumbai. The ATM in question located in Oshiwara incidentally happens to be at a stone’s throw distance from the Oshiwara Police Station.Over the month, the report stated that several irate customers began filing complaints after they realized that the money withdrawn by them from the ATM and the money, a much larger amount that got actually debited did not match. Apparently, the repeated complaints did not draw much action from the cops, initially but when one of the cops in the station itself (Asst. Inspector, Sanjay More) got duped, the cyber crime cell was called in.

According to a statement that a spokesperson from the bank provided to Mumbai Mirror, it was revealed that the ATM at Oshiwara wasn’t the lone one affected. Several other Axis Bank ATMs across the city are now being speculated to be among those affected. Although the mode, and any other specific details of the hack haven't come through, what is being spoken about, albeit in hushed tones is the use of an external device that records all details of a customers card on swiping. The bank has, as on August 1, 2011 filed an FIR with the Cyber Crime Cell.

With statistics being as worrying as the loss of over Rs. 8 lakh in less than a month, this news of the security being compromised has again raised the issue of lack of security present. Have you been affected by the hack? Do let us know in the comments section below.